DRESDEN, Germany – In the James
Bond film Die Another Day, the titular
hero trains for his upcoming mission using
virtual reality sunglasses. Researchers at
the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (IPMS) are developing a bona
fide interactive display on a pair of glasses
that they hope will be worthy of the fictional spy.

A user of the Fraunhofer glasses will be
able to look at his surroundings and the display at the
same time. Technically, this
combination of a virtual reality display and the ability
to see the surrounding environment is referred to as
augmented reality.

Although virtual and
augmented reality head-mounted displays have been
around a long time, historically they showed information only passively and
were bulky to wear on the
head. The Fraunhofer
glasses are lightweight and
interactive.

The researchers are developing an eye-tracking feature that will
enable wearers to influence the content of
the display by scrolling with their eyes or
by fixing their eyes on a point to select a
menu option. A separate group of researchers, at Fraunhofer Institute for Information and Data Processing in Karlsruhe,
Germany, is working on eye-tracking algorithms that can distinguish between intended eye movements and random ones
such as blinking.

This eye-tracking feature will be useful
for anyone needing to work with his hands
while using the display, including surgeons, civil engineers and technicians.
This option will allow surgeons to operate
while viewing x-ray images, or building
engineers to look at plans while working
on a project. The glasses also connect to a
personal digital assistant that can be used
for handheld control.

The interactive display consists of or-

ganic LEDs on top of a 19. 3 ; 17-mm
CMOS chip, a lightweight combination.
In the prototype model, the chip is just
behind the hinge on the temple of the
glasses, and the bidirectional display projects onto the retina of the wearer so that it
appears to be viewed from 1 m away.

The eyeglasses’ final model may have
additional optics. According to Michael
Scholles, the business unit manager at

Fraunhofer IPMS, “The challenge is to
find an optics design that can be used both
for generating the virtual image display
and the eye tracking.”

Until spring 2011, the product’s development will be funded by the Fraunhofer
central administration under the iStar project. The project has an industry advisory
board that includes companies such as
EADS, Daimler and T-Systems, which are
pilot users of the system.

“We think that first applications will be
for professional use (assembly, maintenance, medical). However, within the
mentioned iStar project, also a touristy
prototype application will be developed.
So, yes, we believe that the interactive
eyeglasses will be available to the greater
public, but only as a second step,”
Scholles said.